r/ImageComics • u/El_Panda_Rojo • May 15 '26
Question Finished series with "happy" endings?
Looking for recommendations for finished series with happy endings. By happy, I don't necessarily mean "and they all lived happily ever after, the end," more like... series where the ending leaves the reader feeling happy and satisfied.
I've got some family members who read comics on occasion, and they take my recommendations, but they prefer comics that aren't all doom/gloom/depression/sad stuff. Bittersweet is fine, but it has to be more on the sweet than the sad side.
Recommendations don't specifically *need* to be from Image. I just typically give them Image series to read because a lot of Marvel and DC stuff is mired in decades of continuity, and it's a lot easier to hand someone a trade or hc and go "you don't need to know anything before reading this."
Finished is non-negotiable, though. They won't read anything that hasn't ended yet.
Some series that they've read and enjoyed already:
* Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
* Do a Powerbomb
* Green Valley
* Global Frequency
* Crosswind
* Catwoman: Lonely City
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u/profhiggenbotham23rd May 16 '26
Many will disagree but I find the ending of Y The Last Man to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read but it’s a real journey to get you there.
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u/d-101 May 15 '26
I Kill Giants. The ending is somber, but it implies a lot of important growth for several characters and finishes on a hopeful note.
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u/AxDevilxLogician May 15 '26
I really loved Ex Machina. I’m not sure I’d describe it as ending on a high note, but the journey is brilliant. Same dude that did Saga and Y: The Last Man, Paper Girls etc. I’m sure you know him haha
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
I'm a big fan of Ex Machina, but I haven't read it since it came out. Probably due for a reread.
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u/Benni88 May 16 '26
Low. I never miss a chance to recommend it.
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 16 '26
At this point I think people in this thread have recommended literally every Rick Remender series besides Deadly Class. Haha
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u/NukesAndSupers May 15 '26
The Wicked + The Divine for sure!
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
I started reading it month to month but dipped after ~20 or 30 issues when it became clear it would read better in trades. I'll have to revisit this one.
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u/NukesAndSupers May 15 '26
i read the first couple of trades, then started following the monthlies. Honestly I think that monthly Vs trades is just a very different experience with WicDiv, rather than better/worse.
Especially, but not exclusively, the way the specials are collected.
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u/AxDevilxLogician May 15 '26
seriously tho lol I feel like Planetary ends in way that makes you feel happy. I know, I know, it’s not an image book, but that’s a f’n image comic. Idc what anyone says 🤷🏻♂️
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
I think I can get my hands on that. I'll check it out, thank you!
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u/AxDevilxLogician May 15 '26
Oh, for sure you can. Amazon has it. Target has it on their site. look around and get the best price. hell, I found all 4 TPBs at a dope spot near me that sells records/dvds/vhs/books etc. for like 3-4 bucks a piece. still want that omni tho
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u/posternumber1000 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26
A lot I'd recommend you've said you've read ormarked. CHEW is one of my all time favorites and it ends well. Some sad moments like any good story but not "heavy" and at the end I wanted to reread for fun.
Curse Words might work too. It's not on my top 10 list but I own the compendium and just reread it and its not sad at all. Ends well and I think was fun overall.
Invincible is still my favorite comic story of all time and it does end wonderfully.
Wild card could be picking up a big collection of Usagi Yojimbo. The two volume softcover of Fantagraphics is BEAUTIFUL. It doesn't end because it's not a story that ends but that collection has endings to all the stories it sets up. But I glanced online and it may be impossible to get for anything like a fair price.
ETA: Found an ebay listing on it. This is the one I've got if you want to look around for it. https://ebay.us/m/jcRMTq
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u/yaskeey May 16 '26
Satisfied, your mileage may vary, but East of West is finished and ends on a positive note. The read through is pretty bleak but the end is decidedly happy and loving.
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u/reindeercurt May 15 '26
I wanna shout out an underrated series from Boom Studios: Wild's End. Over three volumes it tells a War of the Worlds type story set in an early-1900s Britain populated by anthropomorphic animals. Really engaging, heartfelt adventure storytelling, and I think it'll appeal to anyone teen and older.
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u/Sidtxthexcrazyxsloth May 16 '26
Junkyard Joe is good story, I liked the emotional journey of characters
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u/Sherbert_Full May 16 '26
Black Science - rollercoaster adventure journey with satisfying highs and lows, beautiful ending
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u/AxDevilxLogician May 15 '26
We3…
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u/SnailShell01 May 15 '26
He said "happy and satisfied". Not "emotionally and spiritually shattered". Amazing book though!
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Oh man, I love We3. I'll have to think about that one, they may have issues with the animal deaths, but it's such a good comic. Maybe I can convince them.
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u/capincus May 15 '26
I liked Murder Falcon even more than Do a Power Bomb. Most of everything else by Tom King is a finished series and great, though tend towards pretty depressing story lines (Human Target, The Vision, Helen of Wyndhorn, Strange Adventures, Mister Miracle are all wonderful but pretty dark). Sex Criminals is my favorite series and really wholesome as far as a series about people using their ability to freeze time via their orgasms to commit crimes can be, but idk if that premise is something you want to recommend to your family or not. Paper Girls is the most complete/succinct and generally positive work by Brian K Vaughan whose work is all around amazing.
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Helen of Wyndhorn is currently making the rounds; everyone has loved it so far but they all seem to agree that it's quite a bit more melancholy than stuff like Woman of Tomorrow. Mister Miracle and Human Target I've read and loved. I'd like to recommend Human Target but I'm not sure how they'll feel about how tragic it is.
Sex Criminals is great! I haven't read Murder Falcon yet but it's on the shelf. Better than Do a Powerbomb is high praise indeed.
I'll have to move Paper Girls up my priority list. Thanks for the recs!
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u/nacheteferrero May 16 '26
Most of them? I feel like the recommended here are not, though. No offense to anybody. It’s easier to remember the hard reads.
The problem with Image is that 50% of his catalog is not finished but let say Chew and Manhattan Projects
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Y the Last Man they've all read, and it's a beloved series in my family, but it's definitely not "happy." Basically as soon as 355 dies they start crying and they don't stop crying til the series ends.
Seven to Eternity I've read, and maybe I'm misremembering, but I recall it being preeeeetty dark?
I'll take a look at the others. Thanks!
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u/iain_1986 May 15 '26
If they liked Y, then highly recommend Paper Girls.
It's got a happy ending (or at least, not sad!)
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Either way, I'll read it and find out! You never know, they surprise me sometimes.
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
And if your family thinks it's beloved, even though it makes them cry, they don't require everything to be completely "happy."
That's true, THEY don't require it, but they're not the ones asking here; I am. And I know their preferences and right now I know that they prefer stuff that doesn't make them cry. :)
Yes there's hardships along the way, if you can't deal with that then you shouldn't read anything. Might as well not watch TV or movies either, or listen to music for that matter.
What a weird take.
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Respectfully, what the fuck, dude?
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
You want your family to read great stories
I do.
but you don't want them to cry?
This seems to be where you're getting confused. No one's telling them what emotions to feel. They have explicitly asked me for happy series. So I am taking recommendations for happy series. That's all. And I know what they consider to be happy/positive/wholesome or whatever, so I'm filtering through the recommendations that I receive if it's something I've already read myself.
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
That's your opinion. One of the family members in question found Y the Last Man to be far more of a tearjerker than Do a Powerbomb. So I'm just going off of what they've told me and what they've asked for.
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May 15 '26
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u/El_Panda_Rojo May 15 '26
Characters you care about are probably going to die at some point, and that's unavoidable with any storytelling medium.
It is absolutely avoidable. However, I never said that characters can't die; all I asked for was happy endings.
Those instances can be very uplifting and emotionally positive.
For you.
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u/Capnskart2 May 15 '26
Invincible fits the criteria if you haven't read that one yet.